At its annual meeting, TSMC (NYSE:TSM) set a dividend of NT$4.50 per common share for its 2014 operations, up from NT$3.00 a year ago. With each ADS equal to 5 common shares, the payout is equal to NT$22.50 ($0.72) per ADS. That spells a 3.2% yield at current levels.

Chairman Morris Chang stated the world's biggest foundry is aiming for 10%+ 2015 sales growth; an 8-analyst consensus is currently at 8.5%. He also claimed TSMC (aided by Apple A8 CPU orders) grew its global foundry share to 54% in 2014. Samsung/Globalfoundries' 14nm process ramp, and the 14nm orders reportedly secured from Apple and Qualcomm, are expected to impact TSMC's 2015 share.

Separately, TSMC has launched partnerships with EDA software firm Cadence (NASDAQ:CDNS) and GPU core developer Imagination (OTCPK:IGNMF) to create IP that can be used by TSMC clients to develop IoT-optimized chips.

Cadence and TSMC are showing off an IoT "IP subsystem" that relies on Cadence DSP cores and chip/sensor interfaces, and work with a 55nm low-power TSMC process. TSMC and Imagination are working on IP subsystems for both high-end and low-end sensors; they feature Imagination CPU/GPU cores, memory, and connectivity and sensor IP.

With Apple A8 CPU demand and orders from various Apple suppliers still providing a lift, TSMC's (NYSE:TSM) January sales rose 25.3% M/M and 69.4% Y/Y to NT87.1B ($2.76B) - Y/Y growth accelerated from December's 39.9%, and the 52.6% seen for the whole of Q4.

Also: TSMC says it plans to invest more than NT$500B ($16B) at a manufacturing site in the Taiwanese city of Taichung. An upcoming expansion of a 300mm (12") wafer fab at the site is expected to create 5K jobs.

The chip foundry giant recently set a 2015 capex budget of $11B-$12B, and plans to begin mass-production of chips using its 16nm FinFET (3D transistor) process in Q3. Its 10nm process, through which TSMC hopes to regain a manufacturing process lead Samsung and Globalfoundries are set to obtain this year through their 14nm process, is expected to enter mass-production late 2016 or early 2017.